As we head into the holiday season it creates a mix of emotions, doesn’t it? It made me think after we spent the day discussing goals in our Hospitality group. We learned how to set goals using the SMART method (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound) and touched on the impact of goals on ourselves and on our employers. But have you ever noticed how hard it is to actually set a goal and to follow it through from start to finish. It really made me think about my goals and where I am headed both personally and professionally. If I choose to set a goal, what are the steps I need to take to ensure that I will follow it through to the end? If I set a goal, why don’t I do the follow through? Can I do something differently to ensure that I am doing the follow through? I am pretty sure that we all want to see the reward at the end of that goal right?

What are your goals?

How do you set goals? Is it different than the SMART method?

Do you set goals for your work? For home? For finances?

Are we always challenging ourselves to continue to move forward?

Maybe it’s the time of year that we all start to look towards the new year and think about what we want to do differently or maybe it was the fact that we spent time working on goals today, but whatever it is, I want to do some goal setting in my life. Want to join me on a goal setting journey?

Road Trip!

I cannot even begin to tell you all the amazing fun that the Hospitality Career group has been having over this past week! We have learned about what skills we all have that we have gained over the years that we can actually apply in the hospitality field!

Did you know that last year, Brockville had over 450,000 people visit our awesome city! Not only that, but they spent over $49 million in our economy!! This field of hospitality is exploding and I am so glad that you are becoming a part of it now! (PS if you aren’t a part of it yet, we have another hospitality program starting in January, so call me 613-498-2111 x 380)

The above picture is on our first road trip to Windmill Brewery, where we learned all about brewing! What a cool part of our local tourism trade! They were unfortunately not brewing that day, but have invited us to join them again when they are and you can guarantee that we will be there!

We have participated in Safe Food Handling this week so we have one of our 6 certifications under our belt already and it is only the start of week 2!! We are all anxiously waiting to get our results back! This week we are starting our second certification called Workplace Essentials! Looking forward to learning the industry standards!!

I love that we all gather around “The Water Cooler” to find out what is going on! There are so many new and exciting happenings here at the EEC. Oh my I don’t even know where to begin. Did you hear that starting November 12th there is a new hospitality program taking place? Talk about exciting. This program is both in class and out at local businesses where you can gain valuable skills and connect with employers for potential jobs in the future! You will be making beds at the Holiday Inn Express, creating tapas as Furnace Falls Bed & Breakfast and trying your hand at being a front desk agent at the Comfort Inn.

Not to mention the 6 different certifications that you have the opportunity to get! And all for free!! Talk about helping you to get job ready eh?

I wonder how this might help you to take your first step into a career in Hospitality? We live in a beautiful city right on the St. Lawrence River that has many unique characteristics that make it a destination location for tourism and hospitality.

You should meet me here at “The Water Cooler” every day to find out what is going on in the Hospitality Career Program. I can’t wait for you to see and hear all the amazing adventures we are going to have in this program!